'STOP, STOP!'

FAMILY SHOOTING HORROR

Mum, 42, shot dead by cops after she gunned down her two daughters in the street

The footage cuts out as a shocked store owner turns his camera away from the tragic scene.

Sterling was in possession of a gun but was not holding it at the moment he was shot.

As footage of the killing emerged - alongside information that Lake had been suspended before for shooting a black man - outraged Americans took to the streets of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Protesters, the majority of whom came from the city’s black community, held placards with the words “Stop killing us”.

Among those in the crowd was Sterling’s distraught aunt Sandra.

Queen Bennett, 34, who knew Sterling, said: “He was a regular guy, always friendly and just trying to feed his family.

“I would buy his CDs and DVDs from him and he would sell them for $5 for three. They were copies.

“All he wanted to do was feed his family and for them to be proud of him. He was trying his best. He didn’t deserve to die like that.

“The video shows the police were on top of him and they had no reason to pump him with bullets.”

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Anger quickly turned on police, who have come under the spotlight for a series of shootings of young black Americans recently

AP:Associated Press

Sterlingˈs son Cameron was comforted by the crowd during the protests

AP:Associated Press

A shopkeeper was able to film the horrific footage. He said he did so because he feared police would take his store's CCTV

The man who took the footage, shop owner Abdul Muflahi, said he published it because he feared police may destroy CCTV footage they had taken from his store.

He told The Guardian: “As soon as I finished the video, I put my phone in my pocket. I knew they would take it from me, if they knew I had it.

“They took my security camera videos. They told me they had a warrant, but didn’t show me one. So I kept this video for myself. Otherwise, what proof do I have?”

News had earlier spread of the killing after a second video was posted to social media in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The disturbing video shows the victim being tackled to the ground by one of the cops who were responding to a call about a black man selling CDs and threatening someone with a gun.

Filmed by witnesses in a nearby parked car, the footage shows one of the policeman reach for his gun and point it at the man’s chest before two shots are heard.

The frightened witness then pulls the camera and voices within the vehicle can be heard saying: “Oh my god" and "They shot him?"

According to The New Orleans Advocate, Abdullah Muflahi, the owner and manager of the Triple S Store, said that Sterling wasn’t holding a weapon, and did not reach for his pockets, during the altercation.

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It also emerged that one of the police officers had been suspended before for shooting a young black American

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Two videos of the killing have emerged on social media in the immediate aftermath

Muflahi, who revealed the officers also used a taser on the victim, said the officers were "really aggressive with him from the start."

Following a post-mortem examination, it was concluded that Sterling died from gun shots to the chest and back.

Ted James, Louisiana’s State Representative called the shooting a "murder" and said the incident "has made me question what it really means to be land of the free and home of the brave."

The southern state’s congressman Cedric Richmond said the video was “deeply troubling”

He said: “The video footage released today of the shooting of Alton Sterling was deeply troubling and has understandably evoked strong emotion and anger in our community.

“I share in this anger and join the community in the pursuit of justice.”

The two cops involved in the killing have been placed on administrative leave.

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